This week the Israeli government releases 250 Palestinian political prisoners while the army continues to attack Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza strip. These stories and more coming up. Stay tuned.

Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine

Let's begin our weekly report with the nonviolent action in Bil'in Pagainst the wall and settlements. IMEMC's Rena Sahouri with details:

The village of Bil'in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, conducted its weekly demonstration against the illegal Israeli wall that now separates the village from its land.

As is the case each week, the villagers were joined by international and Israeli supporters. The protest headed towards the location of the Wall shortly after Friday prayers. A large Israeli force erected a barricade to block the demonstration from reaching the wall. Upon reaching the barricade, Israeli soldiers opened fire randomly on the protestors and showered them with tear gas, injuring seven of the demonstrators.

Among the injured were Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack and Palestinian activist Ibrahim Bournat who was hit in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet and had to be taken to a local hospital.

In addition to the injuries, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters at a nearby olive grove, causing a fire that destroyed a number of trees.

For IMEMC.org this Rena Sahouri.

Political report

The Israeli government on Friday released 256 Palestinian prisoners in a move calculated to bolster the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The prisoner release is the largest since 2005, when 500 Palestinians were released in February and another 400 freed in June. Those released include six women and 11 minors. Israeli officials report that about 85% of the prisoners are members of the Fatah movement, with the remainder belonging to smaller parties such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A small number of Hamas prisoners were released.

A total of 256 detainees were freed, 77 of whom have already served their terms. A further 88 were scheduled for release by summer 2009. In exchange for their freedom, prisoners had to sign a pledge to stating that they would not participate in resistance activity. The move has been criticized for failing to free a significant number of people. Israel currently holds around 11,000 Palestinians in prisons and administrative detention centers, many of whom have never been tried.

Ziad Abu Ein, an official of the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, described the release as disappointing, especially because none of the PLC members currently being held in Israeli jails were released. Abu Ein added that any prisoner exchange deal that would secure the release of Gilad Shalit would have to include detainees who are serving lengthy terms and detainees accused of killing Israelis, including soldiers.

Among those freed was Nidal Rishmawi, a resident of Beit Sahour town, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Rishmawi told IMEMC that he hoped that all prisoners would one day be released.



Freedom is the most wonderful thing in the world and it's great to be back among family and friends. We wish that all of our brothers who are still in jail will be freed, especially those who are serving long sentences. All prisoners are subjected to daily pressures by the Israeli authorities. Any prisoner freed is an accomplishment for the Palestinians
.
Nidal's Father told IMEMC of the suffering and hardships that families face when a relative or loved one is imprisoned.



During the visits to the detention camps we faced much humiliation and suffering. No other human could understand or face it. It was terrible suffering, more than one could imagine. 250 out of 11,500 prisoners is a drop in the ocean. I wish that our presidency and authority would put the issue of prisoners on their list of priorities.

The recently released former Minister of Education, Nasser Eddin El Shaer, stated on Wednesday that that the prisoners appealed for all Palestinian people to work on reinforcing Palestinian unity as it is highly unfair to differentiate between prisoners based on political affiliation. The former minister, who was released on Tuesday night, called on the Palestinian people to stand unified in the face of Israeli aggression.

In addition to the prisoner release, Israel has agreed to remove 189 Palestinians from its 'wanted list' if they agree to cease attacks on Israel. The 189 fighters, all members of the al-Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, have agreed to stay in the West Bank and refrain from partaking in resistance activity for the next three months.

Sheikh Walid Obeidi, known as Abu al-Qassam, leader of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, indicated that the Israeli authorities made the same deal to 20 wanted fighters from Islamic Jihad, but that the group had rejected the proposal, preferring instead to practice their internationally-recognized right to resist occupation.

In other news, the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza, which is dominated by Hamas, convened on Sunday, declaring that the actions of president Mahmoud Abbas, including his dismissal of the unity government and establishment an emergency authority in its place, were illegal and that the government of Ismail Hanniyeh is the only body legitimately entitled to govern the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a separate move, Dr. Salah Bardaweel, spokesperson for the Hamas bloc, stated on Wednesday that Hamas would participate in the Sunday legislative council session which was called for by Dr. Ahmad Bahar from Hamas, after a request from PM Dr. Salaam Fayyad.

Dr. Bahar stated that the Hamas bloc at the Council for Change and Reform discussed the initiative to hold the session and decided to participate “in an attempt to preserve unity” and to ensure that the council operated without interruption. Bahar warned, however, that the Hamas bloc will not approve the new government.

Moreover, Hamas legislator Yahia Mousa, head of the Change and Reform Bloc, stated on Wednesday that Abbas is not qualified to be the head of the Palestinian Authority “because he stood against his people and supported Israeli and American agendas."

Also on Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated that the issue of early legislative and presidential elections would be disused by the Central Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and that decrees for early elections would be issued in the near future.

The PLO later passed a motion declaring its support for fresh elections and for a reform of the current electoral system to a form of proportional representation where voters would select political parties rather than individual candidates. Hamas won the last elections in 2006 under the current regional voting system. In other news, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, stated on Sunday that it rejected any calls for disarmament as long as the Israeli occupation is still present, adding that resistance will continue as long as Palestine and the Palestinian people are oppressed.

Israeli attacks
During the week, the Israeli army conducted at least 20 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those invasions, Israeli troops kidnapped 30 Palestinian civilians, including one child. Thus, the number of Palestinians kidnapped by the Israeli army in the West Bank since the beginning of this year has mounted to 1,597. IMEMC's John Smith has more:

A massive Israeli army force invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the nearby Balata and Al Ein refugee camps on Wednesday morning, leaving one injured and one kidnapped.

Also on Wednesday, Israeli forces invaded Al Jalazon refugee camp, north of Ramallah in the central West Bank. During a search conducted by troops in the camp, three residents were kidnapped and one Palestinian journalist was injured. On Thursday, Israeli troops invaded Zawata village, west of Nablus, demolishing one home and kidnapping two residents. Also on Thursday, Israeli army bulldozers and military vehicles stormed the village of Al-Asakra, located east of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, and demolished one home.

The information desk of the Palestinian Ministry of Health issued a report on Thursday stating that 7,905 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli army fire since the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000. According to the report, 5,360 of the injured sustained their injuries in the West Bank, while the remainder occurred in the Gaza Strip. Forty-six percent of those injured were children. Nablus was ranked as the city with the largest number of injuries, comprising 19.6% of the total. Ramallah came second with 11.8%.

In the Gaza strip, a Palestinian woman died on the Egyptian side of the Gaza-Egypt border late on Tuesday night. Sana Sannan, 27, reportedly died when her health deteriorated after being stranded at the border for the past 35 days. Miss Sannan had been undergoing cancer treatment in Egypt.

Since Hamas took total control of the Gaza strip last month, all border crossings leading in and out of Gaza have been closed by Israel and Egypt. The closure – now in its sixth week – has left six thousand Palestinians, most of whom were in Egypt for medical treatment, stranded at the border and unable return to their homes in the Gaza strip. The Palestinian Ministry of Information estimates that another 30,000 are waiting elsewhere in Egypt for the border to reopen. International human rights groups and the UN say that conditions at the borders are extremely difficult due to lack of food, water and medical supplies. To date, at least 30 Palestinians have died at the border.

Four Palestinian factions organized a protest on Thursday morning at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza strip. Thousands of residents attended to protest the continued closure of the border. The protest was called by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian National Initiative.

For IMEMC.org, this John Smith.

Conclusion
And that’s just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thanks for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem, this is.